~ jan wrote:
On Thu, 24 Jan 2008 15:19:11 CST, "Stumpy" wrote:


Maybe there is a dwarf goldfish?


At the risk of getting a negative reaction, I reply..... ;-)

I think it would be true to say that all of us have at sometime done
this.....knowing what I know now I would only suggest that those who
know what they are doing and have other options available attempt it ;-)




If you know someone with baby fantail goldfish, you could put 2 tiny ones
in a 5 gallon. Plant the tank with live plants, Then feed only 1 flake of
food each/day, with a partial water change only twice/month.

I would suggest twice weekly rather than monthly to maintain the water
quality......I do this on my small 5 gall tropical tanks that are
planted with a far lower bio-load than goldfish would give....I'm sure
the only reason my goldfish lived in the small tanks we had in the
60s/70s only survived as long as they did because of the water changes...


I've fool around doing this in the past, as I've had tons of baby fantails
at times. I did mine in a 2 gallon tank. They stayed small, but eventually
I didn't have time for my little tank experiments, put them in regular size
tanks and they grew normal. Never saw deformities or stunting... other than
I slowed them down at the beginning.

In general, I don't think that goldfish kept in small tanks by the
"average" newbie even live long enough to suffer from their growth being
stunted......however, I can see with careful husbandary by someone that
knows what they are doing this can be a short term option. Indeed, most
of the goldfish I kept in tanks in latter years used to go in the old
pond once they reached a certain size.....wouldn't work with fancies in
my climate but with the common all garden goldfish it wasn't an issue......





In fact, I have found, if I grow my goldfish slow via food control (not
water quality or space) they keep their color much better than a fish that
is fed a lot and allowed to grow quickly. ~ jan
------------
Zone 7a, SE Washington State
Ponds: www.jjspond.us


Interesting....and probably has a basis in normal wild fish
development.....fry tend to scavange or be eaten themselves.....it is
the clever ones that survive and the brightly coloured ones that get a
better chance of breeding.......and the clever ones aren't usually the
risk takers that pig out at feeding time because of the risk of becoming
dinner themselves......

Gill